Helene flood: A Catholic response

For this deacon, ‘Semper Fidelis’ was at the heart of CCETN disaster relief

By Bill Brewer

As Deacon David Duhamel of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee rushed last fall to assist the victims of historic flooding in upper East Tennessee from Hurricane Helene, he kept encountering two powerful forces.

And those recurring impacts—faith and prayer—have not left him in the six months since Mother Nature reshaped East Tennessee’s landscape with overwhelming ferocity.

The deacon, who serves at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge and is executive director of Catholic Charities, is certainly no stranger to prayer and faith. But amid heartbreaking tragedy and devastation, they were oft-repeated themes in the flood-stricken areas of Erwin, Mountain City, Greene County, and Newport.

Catholic Charities of East Tennessee (CCETN), which serves people from all walks of life throughout the diocese, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, was thrust into action unexpectedly on Sept. 27 in a new and unfamiliar way as Helene swept inland and dumped historic amounts of rainfall in the mountains of western North Carolina and East Tennessee.

For the first time, the Diocese of Knoxville social services agency was called on to deliver disaster relief in real time as floodwaters were sacking homes, businesses, services, roads, bridges, and lives. It was disaster-relief on a large scale.

The floodwaters’ force washed away roadbeds along interstates 40 and 26 and dislodged concrete bridges throughout the affected area, carrying them downstream like the trees that were uprooted. Deep, raging rapids in the Nolichucky, Pigeon, and French Broad rivers even re-channeled the rivers in places.

Entire communities were cut off and took days and weeks to be reconnected. And as often occurs with natural disasters, loss of life and stories of survival emerged.

“I heard countless stories of people put in very precarious situations who were able to escape. A lot of that is attributed to their faith. I think we need to remember that we are a faith-based organization. As Catholics, we understand that suffering is a reality of life, and our job is to have a small role in trying to alleviate that suffering,” Deacon Duhamel said several months after reflecting on the mountainous storm surge that experts say wasn’t a generational weather event but a phenomenon that likely won’t be seen again for many generations.

“We can alleviate some of the physical needs. But there are also spiritual and emotional needs, too. We need to pray for each other. We need to listen to each other and be present for each other. And that is something that everybody can do,” he added.

Something significant happening

On Friday, Sept. 27, Deacon Duhamel watched with interest—just as many East Tennesseans did—as news video showed helicopters rescuing more than 50 patients and employees of the new Unicoi County Hospital from the hospital roof as the swollen Nolichucky River quickly rose to just under the hospital’s single-story roofline.

“That was our first indication that there was a significant event happening,” Deacon Duhamel recalled, noting that there was not much news coverage other than the hospital rescue.

But images of the normally docile Nolichucky overflowing its banks, turning into a raging river with a wide swath, left little doubt about the devastation unfolding.

“Our first impression was what can we do to help. We didn’t have any understanding of the size and scope of the situation in that mountain area,” Deacon Duhamel shared. “The next morning (Sept. 28), the first thing I did was check on what was going on up there. As the sun was rising, things were beginning to take shape, and it was becoming clear that the situation was dire.”

Much to Deacon Duhamel’s credit, the spirit was willing. However, the disaster-response infrastructure was weak.

However, improvising, adapting, and overcoming in any situation is second nature for the former Marine.

“Catholic Charities of East Tennessee did not have a disaster-response program affiliated with our offerings. But we help people all the time, so let’s see what we can do to address some of the needs that might be coming out of this situation,” he said. “We really didn’t know what the situation was. Was it really a disaster or just a hardship for people? I’ve come to find out that disaster takes many different forms. It isn’t necessarily the hurricanes and the wildfires. It can be something more common like a multivehicle car crash or a house fire.

Deacon Duhamel acknowledged that the Hurricane Helene flooding was a learning experience for him. And as such, he sought advice from a knowledgeable source: Catholic Charities USA, the parent organization of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee and all the other Catholic Charities around the country.

“I had not been involved in disaster response outside of my military experience. This was something very new to me. But luckily for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, we’re an affiliate of Catholic Charities USA. Catholic Charities USA has experts in disaster response. Kim Burgo, their vice president of disaster operations, was instrumental in helping me. She was my first phone call,” he said.

Deacon Duhamel explained that he had spoken to Ms. Burgo about three months before the East Tennessee disaster at a Catholic Charities conference. At that meeting, the deacon said he asked Ms. Burgo if he needed to be thinking about a disaster-response program for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee.

He noted that at the time, Ms. Burgo gave him a quick tutorial on disaster relief and preparedness; she gave him her contact information and suggested they speak again on the topic. “She said, ‘We have this conference coming up in October. Why don’t you plan on coming to it?’ I said, ‘That sounds great. I think I will.’”

Autumn weather patterns, however, sped up the timetable.

Deacon Duhamel recalled that on Saturday morning, Sept. 28, he phoned Ms. Burgo and explained the situation to her. Together, they implemented a plan to contact people in upper East Tennessee that Deacon Duhamel knew to get eyewitness accounts.

“I phoned Father Tom Charters (Glenmary pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Erwin). He was already knee-deep in the situation. If the Diocese of Knoxville wants to lift up somebody who went above and beyond the call of duty, Father Tom and his staff really carried the lion’s load in providing immediate assistance to that community,” Deacon Duhamel said.

Father Charters, Brother Corey Soignier, GHM, and Lorena Reynoso of St. Michael the Archangel were still assessing the situation, but the scene that was unfolding was a worst-case scenario.

“The situation was still evolving. They knew they had some fatalities in Erwin, but they didn’t know the size and scope of the situation. They knew they had tremendous flooding and damage from the water, but they didn’t know to what extent. Everyone was still in the first 12 hours of this disaster. They were still in the assessment mode themselves, and that includes emergency management, law enforcement, emergency response, all the folks involved at the local level. They were still involved in trying to get a handle on it as were the churches and nonprofits in those particular areas,” Deacon Duhamel remembered.

The deacon then contacted Father Dustin Collins, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City, who reported that Johnson City was spared from the brunt of the Helene flooding. He continued the phone tree, reaching out to Father Jesús Guerrero and Deacon Joe Herman of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City, Father Pontian Kiyimba, AJ, of Good Shepherd Parish in Newport, and Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville.

Those three parishes were in the path of the Nolichucky, Pigeon, and French Broad rivers and were reporting impacts. The Nolichucky is 115 miles long and flows through western North Carolina into East Tennessee. The Pigeon, begins in western North Carolina, too, is 70 miles long and also overflowed its banks, putting Newport underwater. And the French Broad also forms in western North Carolina and flows through Cocke, Jefferson, and Sevier counties. The three rivers feed the Tennessee River.

The Nolichucky crested at 30 feet on Sept. 27 during the flooding, exceeding its previous record of 24 feet. The Pigeon crested at 25.8 feet on Sept. 27, which was the highest water level recorded in more than a century. The French Broad exceeded its previous record flood crest from 1916 by 1.5 feet.

Although flood assessments were still being made throughout upper East Tennessee, it became clear to Deacon Duhamel that water, or, ironically, a lack of it, was becoming a top concern. The flooding had washed out municipal water systems as well as sewage-treatment facilities. Suddenly, there was little drinking water available.

“I reached out to the Knights of Columbus. I then called Paul Hammerton at Notre Dame, and he put me in touch with the mayor or emergency-management person in
Greeneville. They were looking for water. One of the first impacts from the disaster was that it took out all of the water-purification facilities,” Deacon Duhamel recalled. “I got back on the phone with Kim Burgo and told her what I then knew. She made some calls and arranged for four tractor-trailer loads of water and asked me where I wanted them. At the time, we thought we could get some water to Erwin; we could get some water to Greeneville; and we could get some water to Newport.”

Another learning curve for Deacon Duhamel was the supply-chain response. It took 48 hours for the water to arrive, but that still was as fast or faster than relief coming from other agencies.

Deacon Duhamel decided to drive to the flooded areas on Sept. 28 after Mass with a load of bottled water and other supplies in his pickup truck. As he was driving into Johnson City, Deacon Herman called for assistance.

“The reason I hadn’t been able to reach Deacon Herman and Father Jesús is all their power had been out, and all of their cell towers were gone. They hadn’t had communications with people on the outside for over 48 hours because of the flooding. They had exhausted their emergency water supply, so they were dry. Their water-distribution system at that point was dry. Their biggest need was water, so I called Kim Burgo back.

Deacon Duhamel and Ms. Burgo arranged for a truckload of water to get to Mountain City.

When Deacon Duhamel arrived at St. Michael the Archangel, he found that the church had become an impromptu staging area for disaster relief for parishioners and people in the community because of its location away from the flooding.

He explained that the parish was still dealing with locating missing parishioners.

An industrial park in Erwin near Unicoi County Hospital also was swallowed by floodwaters, and six employees lost their lives, some of whom were parishioners of St. Michael the Archangel.

At this point on Sept. 28, Deacon Duhamel contacted Diocese of Knoxville leaders to inform them of the unfolding disaster that was enveloping upper East Tennessee parishes, and that Catholic Charities of East Tennessee was responding with everything it had.

Willing to help

A key point of support for Deacon Duhamel was diocesan funding left over from previous disasters that he was able to access for supplies. He also coordinated with Paul Simoneau, diocesan vice chancellor, Deacon Hicks Armor, diocesan director of stewardship and strategic planning, and the diocesan communications department to create a page on the diocesan website where people could go to donate money for disaster relief.

“Everyone was willing to help and figure out ways to assist those in need,” Deacon Duhamel shared.

“On Sunday night (Sept. 29), I started getting more and more calls from people wanting to help. We were then sorting through that assistance, making sure it was the right type of help at the right place. The Knights were mobilizing, with the councils in Greeneville, Kingsport, Johnson City, and Mountain City all actively involved. They were a tremendous resource, especially the Grand Knights and district deputies, who jumped right in,” he added.

The Knights of Columbus in the Diocese of Knoxville and across the state joined with the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council in collecting and distributing disaster relief. St. Vincent de Paul conferences also jumped in to assist, he noted.

He said the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, through rector Father David Boettner and parish leaders Mary Mac Wilson, Scott Barron, and Deacon Walt Otey, volunteered to be a central collection site for disaster-relief donations. Deacon Herman, who operates the Danny Herman Trucking company, arranged at no cost for a semi-trailer to be parked on the cathedral campus to collect all the goods, such as water, food, clothing, toiletries, and baby items. Deacon Herman’s son, Father Danny Herman, is an associate pastor at the cathedral.

As disaster assistance began to pour in, Good Shepherd in Newport, St. Mary in Johnson City, and St. Michael the Archangel in Erwin became community distribution sites. Catholic Charities of East Tennessee even arranged for short-term housing for some affected residents.

Deacon Duhamel said he enlisted a fellow Knight from St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge to be on site in upper East Tennessee to help coordinate disaster-relief efforts for Catholic Charities.

“Rick Sample, who has a job, took a temporary leave of absence and went up to Johnson City and lived there for three weeks as our forward-deployed disaster person. Again, disaster was not one of our programs,” Deacon Duhamel said. “I had a great team that I could reach out to. I don’t want to say my team was behind me. I want to say my team was all around me. Everyone was just trying to do something.”

Deacon Duhamel said he can’t overemphasize the importance of the role Catholic Charities USA played in disaster-relief efforts.

“Luckily for us, Catholic Charities USA was right there. Not only did they step up in the immediate 72 hours to provide me with guidance, and they were guiding me the whole way, saying, ‘Have you thought about this; have you talked to the FEMA reps.’ They were giving me the advice and counsel I needed. Then, they quickly made sure I had financial resources. They were one of the larger contributors of grant funding. They cut me a check right away for $25,000, no questions asked. And they came back with another $100,000. They were walking with me the whole way. They knew exactly what we were looking at,” Deacon Duhamel shared.

He pointed out that Catholic Charities USA has contacts at the state and federal levels and even at the White House.

He said it wasn’t until almost a week after the initial flooding that state and federal authorities named Bristol Motor Speedway as the main distribution site for all disaster-relief efforts in East Tennessee. Impacted areas like Newport, Greene County, Erwin, and Mountain City had their own emergency-management centers that were coordinating disaster response and relief in their counties.

Then, VOAD, or Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, became a coordinating arm in disaster relief for nonprofit organizations. CCETN cooperated with VOAD in providing assistance.

Deacon Duhamel described how even out-of-state dioceses stepped up to assist the people of upper East Tennessee. He said the Diocese of Raleigh, N.C., and its Catholic Charities dispatched a truckload of supplies with the assistance of Knights of Columbus, which delivered the load to St. Mary in Johnson City. Raleigh Catholic Charities then left its truck behind so that it might be used indefinitely in the disaster-relief effort.

He said Catholic Charities of East Tennessee received calls from schools in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Nashville. Sister Marie Blanchette Cummings, OP, who formerly was the principal at St. Mary School in Oak Ridge and is now the principal of Overbrook Catholic School in Nashville, called and said a parent group in Nashville wanted to assist.

He described Catholic Charities needing to “triage” donations to get them where they were most needed.

He gave an example of an Ohio family with a vacation home near Elizabethton. A son in this family convinced his Catholic high school to raise money for East Tennessee disaster relief, and he and his classmates raised about $2,000, which was matched by local businesses.

The family contacted Catholic Charities of East Tennessee and wanted the money to be used to assist the community where their vacation home is located. This community wasn’t directly affected by the flooding, so Deacon Duhamel suggested the father directly donate the matched funds to the town because Catholic Charities would not need to direct resources to the town.

However, the father donated several thousand dollars to Catholic Charities of East Tennessee instead for use where it was needed. “That’s just another example of people outside our state wanting to help,” the deacon said.

Deacon Duhamel also was gratified at how everyone involved in the effort worked as a team to assist those in need.

“There were no egos at play. Everyone knew what we needed to get done. People knew what they had to do, and they got it done. It was beautiful to see. There wasn’t a lot of drama, and things fell into place,” he shared.

The deacon said it has been gratifying to see people around the diocese express thanks for what Catholic Charities has been doing.

And he singled out the Hispanic community at St. Michael the Archangel in Erwin for joining together to minister and provide support to those who lost family and friends in the flood.

He also singled out two case managers, Annabelle and Athena, who suggested buying Christmas toys for children whose families were impacted by a plant closure in Mountain City following the flood. Utility-bill assistance, providing food, and supplying clothing were of utmost importance during the cold months since the floodwaters receded.

Shifting to Phase II

Three weeks to a month following the flood disaster, Catholic Charities of East Tennessee transitioned from disaster relief to disaster recovery.

“We transitioned from buying and providing immediate assistance and supplies to people who were survivors of the disaster to figuring out how we get them long-term benefits. That means looking at their housing situation, looking at their employment situation, for our migrants who were working under work visas for the companies and farms in the area,” the deacon said.

Interestingly, Catholic Charities USA has a working relationship with Airbnb, the website and app that allows people to rent out their homes to travelers. The name is short for Air Bed and Breakfast.

He said Catholic Charities USA gave Catholic Charities of East Tennessee a sizable grant to provide short-term housing using Airbnb properties for those who were affected. More than 70 individuals required short-term housing assistance from the diocesan agency following the flooding, according to CCETN.

The agency greatly benefited from volunteers in Diocese of Knoxville parishes who are bilingual and offered to translate for people who speak only Spanish. Also, diocesan parishes dedicated second collections to raise funds for disaster relief.

As he was directing disaster response, Deacon Duhamel also was assessing CCETN’s strengths and weaknesses and taking notes on where the agency needed internal assistance. Immediate needs were case managers to work directly with clients and suppliers of disaster-relief items ready for immediate distribution.

Catholic Charities USA provided case managers to CCETN to assist with those requiring help. According to Deacon Duhamel, upward of 150 people impacted by the flooding were assisted by case managers who worked with them on a weekly basis to make sure they were cared for and could resume independent living.

Deacon Duhamel pointed out that there are basic practices in receiving aid and reimbursement for flood relief, such as filling out forms and submitting receipts, can be problematic for some people in distressing situations where homes and belongings were washed away.

Once the disaster response was manageable, Deacon Duhamel continued to incorporate Catholic Charities USA’s disaster-relief expertise. He learned that federal disaster relief is a must.

“I have since gone to that disaster conference, and one of the things you learn is you really want the survivors to take advantage as much as possible of the benefits afforded by the federal government. One, because these resources are available for these types of emergencies, and two, because we have finite resources in our own agency, and we would deplete them very quickly if we did that level of support and assistance,” he said.

But federal aid cannot supplant regional assistance; it must complement local aid.

“It’s a good partnership because there are a lot of survivors of disasters who don’t qualify for a lot of the funding grants from the federal government. That’s where we step in … buying furniture, buying pots and pans, renting hotel rooms for short-term housing needs. We’ve been very blessed,” Deacon Duhamel said.

Catholic Charities of East Tennessee has continued to deploy staff in upper East Tennessee, where the number of people continuing to need assistance is still over 100.

“The infrastructure is back in place for the most part, with the exception of some ongoing road and bridge work. The flooding receded quite quickly in Newport. That doesn’t mean housing renovation was addressed right away. In Greene County, they are still trying to fix some bridges and utilities,” he pointed out. “I know it’s never fast enough, but the state and federal governments are working to re-establish the necessary infrastructure, and we continue to work with those clients of ours who are survivors and still need assistance. That number is not low. We are still assisting somewhere in the neighborhood of 125-150 people.”

Deacon Duhamel said he has been “amazed” at how long it takes for a community to recover from a disaster. “If you think about recent disasters in the United States, the fires in Maui (August 2023), they still are in long-term recovery and that was two years ago. The wildfires six years ago in California. One of our case managers who came out to help us said Catholic Charities USA still has clients it is working with from those fires. It just takes an incredibly long time for some of these benefits to help.”

Deacon Duhamel also noted the logistical distress a natural disaster causes. All of a sudden, resources such as lumber, roofing, and equipment are redirected from the U.S. supply chain to an affected area, causing gaps and delays in the supply chain.

He noted that western North Carolina was hit much harder than upper East Tennessee by Hurricane Helene and has needed many more resources.

A new ministry

The on-the-job training Deacon Duhamel and his Catholic Charities of East Tennessee staff has received in providing disaster relief to upper East Tennessee has prompted them to think in a new and different way.

“There are all these disasters, and then there’s the wildfires that recently hit Southern California. They have an overall effect on the supply chain, which slows down relief operations across the country. I’ve come to learn that this is why we do long-term recovery. I’m very proud of what we’re doing. What I have observed is that many organizations will flood an area of need with assistance, and then after two or three weeks of helping out, when things start stabilizing, those affected are being fed, and those affected are being housed in short-term housing, people with these organizations want to return to their lives and do what they need to do. You can’t fault them for that. And I’m not judging these organizations.

“So, a lot of organizations that flooded into our state have left. And now there are only about a half-dozen long-term recovery agencies that are working in East Tennessee. I’m very proud that Catholic Charities is one of them. We are partnering with other organizations. We’ve reached out to other community partners like Good Samaritan in Johnson City and other organizations around the state,” the deacon said.

Deacon Duhamel said as a result of the emergency response to Hurricane Helene in Erwin, Newport, Mountain City, Greeneville, and places in between, Catholic Charities of East Tennessee is now disaster-relief-minded and is quick to respond, whether the disaster is large or small. “Unfortunately, the way the weather systems work, we will probably be in this business for a while.”

He said Catholic Charities of East Tennessee is looking at purchasing trailers and mobile homes to provide housing for the next disaster. Catholic Charities USA recently has given its East Tennessee sister agency a $1 million grant to jumpstart CCETN’s developing disaster-relief ministry.

“We’re looking at how we build in a way that is life-sustaining and provides the necessary needs for that community. We’re also, with some of the grant money we received from Catholic Charities USA, trying to build our capacity to manage and handle future events. We’re buying a truck just like the Raleigh, N.C., group, and we’re going to have it pre-positioned,” Deacon Duhamel said.

He pointed out that Catholic Charities USA also donated $25,000 in disaster-relief items that are being stored for future needs. The items include blankets, batteries, and emergency water supplies.

“Our focus hasn’t changed. We’re still here to provide help and offer hope to our clients. This is just a new area where people in dire need come because of a specific event. We haven’t had this in the past. This aligns 100 percent to our mission here at Catholic Charities of East Tennessee,” Deacon Duhamel said. “We’re trying to make sure that the help we are providing is the right type of help. We don’t want to put a solution in place that fixes a problem today that may lead to long-term issues. We’re trying to be very responsive to needs in a smart way.”

Deacon Duhamel is proud of how the Diocese of Knoxville, its faithful, and Catholic Charities of East Tennessee responded quickly to help those in need during a traumatic time.

That response illustrates how they are “always faithful” in being the hands, feet, and heart of Christ.

“No matter what the false narrative being espoused by our politicians and the media is, Catholic Charities exists solely to help our most vulnerable neighbors no matter who they are. We’re here to help them in a lawful way. We’re here to meet their immediate needs. We’re here to walk with them as we can,” Deacon Duhamel said. “We can’t do everything for everybody, but those we can help we will. Where it makes sense, where it aligns to our mission, where it’s life-affirming and supportive of East Tennesseans, we will absolutely look to be of assistance.”

Deacon Duhamel said as Catholic Charities of East Tennessee builds its disaster-response capacity, he wants to repay its debt to Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Raleigh and be a resource for the rest of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.

Amid the expanded role Catholic Charities of East Tennessee will now be playing in the diocese and beyond, Deacon Duhamel also wants to expand its team of volunteers.

“At Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, we operate on a fixed budget. When I say our programs are expanding, it is meant to communicate that the need is expanding. And we are trying to meet all those needs. We are seeing an uptick in other programs. Is that primarily from the disaster? Probably not. But it could be secondary or tertiary cause and effect,” he said.

Catholic Charities of East Tennessee is seeing success with its programs, including a growing number of adoptions, providing shelter for children and seniors, assisting parents, providing important services for immigrants, its pregnancy help centers and a mobile ultrasound van for expectant mothers, mental-illness services, and aid for the homeless.

Deacon Duhamel said the need is growing for mental-health services as well as the agency’s other programs.

“The services that we have provided are still in demand. We still need help from contributions. The money we received from the Diocese of Knoxville for the disaster is earmarked for disaster, specifically Hurricane Helene. We can’t use that for other services. And we are absolutely committed to respecting donor intent,” he said.

Deacon Duhamel, who was deployed by the Marines to Somalia and Iraq, said he was prepared for the devastation in upper East Tennessee after seeing early media reports, but he didn’t anticipate the size and scope of the devastation.

“What did surprise me was how the disaster had micro impacts in different communities. Then there were communities that were cut off that we didn’t hear about in the first two weeks,” he said.

Deacon Duhamel said the goal of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee is to respond to the needs of the community in whatever way that might be. Some of it is long-term. Some of it is acute and immediate.

Under exceedingly difficult conditions, the Diocese of Knoxville social services agency responded in every way as did the diocese’s churches and its faithful, whether through volunteer work, donations of much-needed items, or monetary donations.

“The Catholic spirit of generosity and of charity just shined right through, and we were able to leverage those donations and get them to where they needed to go. We were blessed to be where we needed to be to help those who needed help,” Deacon Duhamel said. “Donor intent is a major focus for us. I had calls from pastors in our own diocese who said they wanted to do a second collection and wanted the money to go to people in East Tennessee. We’ve allocated and departmentalized the donations in a way so that we get assistance to the people of East Tennessee from the donations received from the second collections.”